PDF Template Language

Summary

The PDF Template Language (PTL) has a host of functionality to get data from:

Sample information
Test values
Reserved words
Optional arguments
Custom functions

Sample Information

Term	Description

Term	Description
LogId	Visible log identifier used as name of sample
CompositeStart	Start date of composite
CompositeEnd	End date of composite
SampleReceived	Date received by lab
DateCreated	Date sample created in DATS
CreatedBy	User who created the sample
Comments	Any comments added to sample

Reserved Words

Term	Description	Example

Term	Description	Example
ReportMonthName	Date of newest selected sample as MMM-yy.	Jan-22
CurrentMonthName	Date of report creation as MMM-yy.	Feb-22
CurrentDate	Date of report creation as M/d/yyy.	2/1/2022
Duration	Dates of report start and end as MMMM dd - dd, yyyy	July 1 - 31, 2024
FullName	User signature full name (if configured for user)	John Doe
JobTitle	User signature job title (if configured for user)	Quality Supervisor
UserSignature	Image of user signature (if configured for user)	<image>

Optional Arguments

Append a pipe | to the requested data to access optional arguments. Arguments are separated with semicolons ;.

SampleType
- For some reports, data is required from another sample type than the target of the report. To pull data in from another type, refer to it by name and put the test name after a colon. If we are pulling in data from Type I-II Clinker and our desired test is fCaO, the form field should be named:
  
  fCaO|SampleType:Type I-II Clinker
Timeframe
- For the above example, we can shift the timeframe using the 1MonthAgo argument:
  
  fCaO|SampleType:Type I-II Clinker;Timeframe:1MonthAgo
- Timeframe options
  - 1MonthAgo - previous calendar month to the most recent sample’s Composite Start date in the selected report timeframe
  - 2MonthsAgo - calendar month before the previous calendar month to the most recent sample’s Composite Start date in the selected report timeframe
Format
- To continue our example, we want to enforce only one place after the decimal:
  
  fCaO|SampleType:Type I-II Clinker;Timeframe:1MonthAgo;Format:f1
- Formatting options:
  - f0 to f6 - zero to six decimal places to the right of the decimal point
  - f-1 to f-3 - rounds tens, hundreds, and thousands respectively
- Special case formatting dates:
  
  ReportMonthName|Format:MMMM will result in July
  - Valid date formats: MMM-yy, dd/MM/yyyy, d-MMM, M/d/yyyy, yyyy, MMMM dd, yyyy, MMMM, MMMM yyyy
Output
- The default output is to average the values for a given test.
- Other Output options include: Minimum, Maximum, and Count.
- To change our example above to use Count:
  
  fCaO|SampleType:Type I-II Clinker;Timeframe:1MonthAgo;Format:f1;Output:Count

Custom Functions

It’s a big wild world out there, so there are custom functions that can be implemented to fill in gaps. These are per-application and not publicly available.

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